The Three Mothers: Part 1
by Mask Rider Roy
Summary: The first of a trilogy of stories involving the biological family members of Herschel Layton. This story tells the life of Layton's biological mother, Rachel Bronev, about her teenage years as she attended a ballet academy in Germany, where she soon finds herself targeted by a group of malevolent individuals who seek to kill her.


**The Three Mothers: Part One**

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 _ **Disclaimer:**_  
 _ **Professor Layton**_ is owned by Level-5 _ **  
Suspiria**_ is owned by Dario Argento

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Hello, and welcome to my second Professor Layton fic, and while Twilight Syndrome is currently ongoing, a new idea popped inside my head and decided to try this out. Last month I was surfing **youtube** and accidentally came across a movie that starred Jennifer Connelly which is titled " **Phenomena** ", and after watching it, I was quite impressed with the story and decided to do some research, which led me to head for **wikipedia** , and there I got to learn about the director, who is hailed from Italy - **Dario Argento**. Having seen the list of films he directed, I was somewhat attracted by curiosity when I saw a trilogy of films that was listed, which are:

\- **Suspiria**

\- **Inferno**

\- **The Mother of Tears**

It was then that I decided to check out the first instalment, and though I did watch it, I was rather taken aback at the gory scenes yet I managed to hold on and finished it. While quite an experience for me since I was used to watching gory scenes on Animal Kingdom (a cable channel), it nevertheless intrigued me and this inspired me to come up with a new Professor Layton fic and see if this would attract viewers and readers who wanted to see interesting and new.

This is the first Professor Layton fic that would contain horror themes and planning this story is not easy, because I am making a trilogy fic, wherein it would be split into three parts, and am using themes such as PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE. Of course Layton will be there, but for now the first installment will deal with the PAST, where someone from Layton's past will be the lead character for this story.

Well then, time to commence the first chapter, so read on and enjoy!

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 _ **Ch. 1: Prologue**_

 _ **The Past…**_

 **The Black Sea**.

A sea in Southeastern Europe it is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosphorus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the Strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate eastern Europe and western Asia. The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.

The Black Sea is connected to the World Ocean by a chain of two shallow straits, the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. The Dardanelles is 55 m (180 ft) deep and the Bosphorus is as shallow as 36 m (118 ft). By comparison, at the height of the last ice age, sea levels were more than 100 m (330 ft) lower than they are now.

There is also evidence that water levels in the Black Sea were considerably lower at some point during the post-glacial period. Thus, for example, archaeologists found fresh-water snail shells and man-made structures in roughly 100 m (330 ft) of water off the Black Sea coast of modern Turkey. Therefore it is agreed that the Black Sea had been a landlocked freshwater lake (at least in upper layers) during the last glaciation and for some time after.

In the aftermath of the last glacial period, water levels in the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea rose independently until they were high enough to exchange water. The exact timeline of this development is still subject to debate. One possibility is that the Black Sea filled first, with excess fresh water flowing over the Bosphorus sill and eventually into the Mediterranean Sea. There are also catastrophic scenarios, such as the "Black Sea deluge theory".

The Black Sea was a busy waterway on the crossroads of the ancient world: the Balkans to the west, the Eurasian steppes to the north, Caucasus and Central Asia to the east, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the south, and Greece to the south-west.

The oldest processed gold in the world, arguably left by Old Europeans, was found in Varna, and the Black Sea was supposedly sailed by the Argonauts. The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, Colchis, marked for the Greeks the edge of the known world.

The steppes to the north of the Black Sea have been suggested as the original homeland (Urheimat) of the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, (PIE) the progenitor of the Indo-European language family, by some scholars such as Marija Gimbutas; others move the heartland further east towards the Caspian Sea, yet others to Anatolia. Numerous ancient ports, some older than the Egyptian pyramids, line the Black Sea's coasts.

The Black Sea became an Ottoman Navy lake within five years of Genoa losing the Crimea in 1479, after which the only Western merchant vessels to sail its waters were those of Venice's old rival Ragusa. This restriction was gradually changed by the Russian Navy from 1783 until the relaxation of export controls in 1789 because of the French Revolution.

The Black Sea was a significant naval theatre of World War I and saw both naval and land battles during World War II.

The scene begins at the dawn of the 11th century, when three sisters, possibly of Greek descent, began a ritual that resulted in which they created the pernicious art of witchcraft on the coast of the Black Sea. In the years that followed, they wandered the world and amassed great personal wealth and power, leaving only death in their wake.

In the years, and centuries that followed, the trio, who are now collectively known as the **Three Mothers** , decided to spread their terror by living in several countries, amassing wealth and power so as that they can move freely without giving themselves away. Throughout the centuries the Three Mothers did everything they pleased, in a malevolent way, and upon the dawn of the 19th century, they looked forward to spread their evil, while adjusting to that era after centuries of living unabashed.

 **-x-**

 **The 19th Century**

In the late 19th century the three women got together again and commissioned E. Varelli, an Italian architect based in London, to design and construct three stately buildings in three separate countries of their choosing. From these enchanted, bastion-like homes the Three Mothers "rule the world". According to Varelli's memoirs, entitled The Three Mothers by an anonymous colleague, the architect learned too late of the women's evil nature. The residences he designed will become so corrupted that eventually the land they were built on will become pestilential.

The scene then shifts to Germany, where one of the Three Mothers settled in, and is enjoying her power and wealth, while at the same time founded a coven to have servants serve her. This woman of the trio is identified as **Mater Suspiriorum** , aka the _Mother of Sighs_ , is the oldest and wisest of the Three Mothers. Her given name (or perhaps an alias) is **Helena Markos**. She was also known as **The Black Queen**.

Markos, a Greek émigré, was exiled from many European countries and had written several books on a variety of arcane subjects. In 1895 she founded the **Tanz Akademie** ("Dance Academy" in German), a school for dance and the occult sciences, in the Black Forest outside **Freiburg, Germany**. The locals feared her, having intuited that she was a witch. As Markos' wealth grew so did suspicions about her true nature. To avert this unwanted scrutiny, she faked her own death in a fire in 1905. Control of the academy, in which became solely a ballet school, was said to have gone to Markos' prize pupil. In reality, this was Markos herself. (The Akademie bears a plaque stating that Desiderius Erasmus once lived there.)

 **-x-**

 **1940's**

Markos used her power to cause influence in Germany's citizens, and its then-military, particularly, Adolf Hitler, to "go into arms" and seek power, which in turn caused a formation of the "Axis Power" which nearby and other countries, such as Hungary, Italy, and Japan, accepted the invitation and joined the alliance. This in turn spawned what is historically known as **World War I** and **World War II** , which lasted for several years, and this resulted in the death of many lives, innocent and the guilty ones.

However, Markos' influence, for some reasons, waned and World War II ended in the mid-1940's as Germany eventually loses its influence and their invasion which led to Hitler committing suicide, and the United States of Americ dropped what was historically known as the "atomic bomb", over Hiroshima, Japan, and that led to Japan's surrender, and peace was slowly restored in the world.

Despite this, the Three Mothers continued to live in secrecy and still influenced their surroundings with their evil aura, amassing wealth and power while keeping a low profile and continued to gain followers and acquired sacrifices for their coven.

-x-

 _ **The Present Time**_

The scene shifts at London, where Herschel Layton had just solved a high-profile case which led to the exposure of the culprit, a man from Jamaica who claims to be a practitioner of supernatural talents that claims to perform feats that is more extreme than entertainment magic found in magic shows and practice, which Layton reveals that it is just a front to cover his true motive - importing and exporting illegal drugs and having contacts to various drug cartels from **Mexico** , **Brazil** , up to Asia such as **China** , **Taiwan** and **Malaysia** along with **West Africa**.

Thanks to Layton's efforts, the Jamaican's cartel was also exposed and also led to the members' arrests, and **Inspector Chelmey** is grateful to Layton for helping in exposing the cartel, and is angry at the Jamaican for attempting to start a cartel at **Scotland Yard**. If not for Layton's intervention, the would-be established cartel may have infiltrated Scotland Yard.

"Thanks, Layton...I owe you one."

"It's okay, inspector."

"Had this fiend succeeded...it would cause a problem at my territory...drugs at that..."

"Glad to help, inspector."

"Okay, time to put him away...for a long, long time."

"You have the evidence to prove his crimes, I take it?"

"Right here with me, Layton."

"Good luck, inspector...

As the culprit is being taken away, he shouted at Layton that the witches who AWOKE his talents will go after him, assuring the professor that there will be no escape for him.

"Hey you! The English idiot with the HORNY hat!"

"?"

"Do not think you won! This is just the beginning!"

"What...?"

"You will regret crossing path with me! My benefactors now know...they will kill you...with BLACK MAGIC!"

"What are you...?"

"The witches have marked you for death! There is no escape for you! And if the witches grant me additional powers...I'll see to it that you will die!"

"..."

As the Jamaican is taken away, Layton just watched him as he sighed that people are getting delusional about claims of having supernatural feats, using it as a cover to hide his true intent, and as he is walking away, he is cheered up by **Luke** and **Emmy** , telling him that he did a great job in solving the murder case of a young child who was actually killed by forced drug overdose and the Jamaican using a means of covering it up to confuse coroners and investigators should they conduct autopsy.

"Great work, Layton."

"Thanks, Emmy."

"You sure have solved a complex case..."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, Luke. Just bothered at how that Jamaican is using outlandish alibi just to cover up a murder and drug trafficking."

"Don't let it bother you, professor."

"Luke is right...you should feel proud about solving this case."

Layton just smiled as the trio walked towards a park where they sat on a bench are are relaxing. There they saw two adults and two children, aged six and five, both boys and the family was bonding happily in which made Layton feel a bit down as this reminded him about his past where his biological parents were taken away which leaves him and his elder brother alone, and that led to their adoption while his elder brother sacrificed his freedom so his younger brother can grow up happily and normally.

Up until now Layton was unable to find his elder brother's whereabouts, and neither are his biological parents, and this somehow made him quite lonely and wondered where they are now, and wished that he could find a clue that would give him the means of finding them.

Emmy noticed Layton's silence and asks him what is wrong, and not wanting her to worry about him, Layton smiled and said that he is fine and assured to her that there is nothing wrong even though she is pressing him to tell her what is on his mind.

"Layton?"

"Huh?"

"Something bothering you?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Come on...you can tell me."

"I'm fine, Emmy. Really."

-x-

Somewhere within the European country, the scene shifts to what appeared to be an abandoned house, where the scene shows that a man and a woman, who appeared to be in their late 50's, about 56 to 58 years old, and they appeared to be on the run, and judging from their appearance, they are not in the best of health, and they appeared to be in a bad medical situation.

The scene zoomed closer where the two person hiding are revealed to be **Rachel Bronev** , and with her is an unidentified man, and they appeared to be weak, sickly and hungry. It is slowly revealed that Rachel and the unidentified prisoner managed to flee from their captors, the **Targent Agency** , and is revealed that the Targent Agency has international branches, such as **Germany** , **North America** and **Italy** , and both Rachel and her husband, Leon Bronev, were forcibly taken to an unspecified country where they were, for decades, undergo cruel tortures just to get them to cooperate lend their knowledge on the **Azran Legacy**.

However, the Targent agents became more interested in Rachel, as for reasons unknown, she appeared to be connected to someone who has a SPECIAL ability that may pose a threat to anyone, and the Targent agents put her in a series of tests, which appeared to be torturous but Rachel somewhat overcame them and through unknown means, managed to escape Targent.

Rachel was sitting on the floor while the man is laying on her lap, and both expressed sadness that they may be unable to meet their loved ones, and even though Rachel knows that her youngest son, in which through unknown means, is doing well after learning that her youngest son has assumed the name of Herschel Layton. Rachel was mentally relieved to see that her youngest son is doing well and hoped that her eldest son is also doing well.

The unidentified man smiled weakly and told Rachel that he wished that he could return to his country just to see his children, but said that may not happen and she tries to keep his spirits up by assuring him that they overcome this challenge.

"Hush...we will escape...and we will be reunited with our fellow children..."

"Really...?"

"Yes. Really."

"You sure sound optimistic..."

"I am."

"How can...you be...sure...? You haven't see your...kids...for...20 years..."

"I just...know..."

"..."

As the unidentified man went quiet, Rachel began to reminisce about her younger years and what she went through before having met Leon, and what experiences she encountered before dating Leon that led to eventual marriage and becoming a mother of two.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

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Hope you liked the opening chapter, and here it is shown that Layton's biological mother, Rachel Bronev, will be the main character here and in the upcoming chapters you will see what role she would play in this story.

Layton, Luke and Emmy appear here and though their roles are somewhat minor, they still play an important part. More on that later.

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 _ **Preview:**_

The next chapter opens the story, where you will get to see Rachel Bronev in her younger years and what she would be doing before meeting her future husband which years later, would lead to having a family and all…

See you in 3 to 4 weeks…


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